Construction starts with ground breaking ceremony at Birmingham100

Ground-breaking ceremony at Birmingham 100. L to R: Toby Hooper, Buckingham Group Contracting Limited, Edward Henson, Barwood Capital, and Oliver Bertram, First Industrial.

Construction has started with a ground breaking ceremony at Birmingham100, the 100,075 sq ft (9,296 sq m) industrial warehouse unit on a 5.72 acre site on Walsall Road just north of Birmingham City centre.

Owned by Barwood Property 2015 Limited Partnership, a five year Fund run by Barwood Capital, the Northampton-based real estate investment and development business, and managed by First Industrial, the Warwick-based specialist industrial real estate development company, the parties have appointed Buckingham Group Contracting Limited as contractor which will employ more than 100 people to construct the building.

Buckingham Group Contracting Limited have delivered over 860,000 sq ft for First Industrial in the last couple of years and all parties are confident of delivering a state of the art building on time and on budget.

In a ceremony held at the site the ground was officially broken with Edward Henson, director, Barwood Capital, and Oliver Bertram, development director, First Industrial, and Tony Hooper, Buckingham Group.

Councillor John Clancy, Leader of Birmingham City Council said: “The Birmingham 100 project illustrates the growing confidence and demand in Birmingham’s industrial market. I welcome this latest investment and look forward to working with the future occupier of this scheme as new jobs are created in Perry Barr.”

Edward Henson, director, Barwood Capital added: “It is great to have broken ground at Birmingham100. We are speculatively constructing the building to meet the demand from businesses looking for a brand new warehouse in an excellent Midlands’ location.”

Oliver Bertram, development director, First Industrial said: “As we mark the official ground breaking, we look forward to seeing the construction phases and the finished building. We have been pleasantly surprised with the initial interest from the wider market, which goes to show the lack of opportunities for new state of the art facilities.”

Birmingham100 will be a single storey warehouse with two storey fully fitted offices capable of accommodating up to 130 people, 47 HGV trailer parking spaces and 95 car parking spaces. It will be completed by Q3 2017 and available for sale at £11.5 million or to rent at £6.50 per sq ft. It will be suitable for industrial storage and distribution, wholesale, cash and carry or trade counter uses.

JLL, CBRE and Burbage Realty are the retained property consultancies for Birmingham 100.